A/N: I wanted to give a little depth to Gru as a villain as well as some back story for Lucy. Hope you enjoy :D More chapters will be coming soon!

Date #95: What Made You Want To?

The newly engaged couple was eating out for dinner at an Italian place by the dock, having come straight from headquarters after reporting the findings of their latest mission. Their table was just outside of the establishment and it was starting to get dark out, the moon's faint silhouette growing brighter every minute.

Lucy was in the middle of eating when something dawned on her. She slammed her hand on the table, making Gru jump slightly. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you! Well, not really you specifically, just a villain in general, actually. I've had this question for a really long time, I almost forgot about it—"

"And that would be?" Gru said, effectively stopping her rambling. Sometimes she could go on and on about nothing. He secretly thought it was adorable, but it really got them nowhere in terms of conversation.

Lucy leaned in as if what she had to say was top secret. "Ok. What made you…want to become a villain?" Her excitement was palpable, slightly infectious, and somewhat typical, for her at least.

Gru wasn't surprised by the question, coming from her, and couldn't help but grin. The fact that Lucy was an agent of AVL and so accepting of his past work was extremely endearing. They'd talked about his heists and crimes so many times that he didn't think he had any more stories to tell. And although he was no longer a villain, he wasn't ashamed of the choices he'd made in the past. He missed it sometimes, striving to be the greatest evil mastermind in the world, but surprisingly, he found that his new life was just as rewarding, if not more so.

"Simple." Gru said with a shrug. "I was born bad."

Lucy gave him an unimpressed look. "You really expect me to believe that? You have three daughters who you spoil, you have tea parties with them, you wear an apron when you cook, you make pancakes in the shape of hearts, unicorns, flowers—"

"Ok, ok, I get your point!" Gru exclaimed. "All villains have exceptions."

"So…" Lucy urged him on, still wanting a real answer from him.

He thought for a moment, genuinely trying to put a reason into words. "Fine. The real reason anyone becomes a villain is pretty simple. We don't like having bosses, so we are our own bosses. We don't like living by rules, so we rebel. People treat us like we will never belong and we want to be turning the tables on them, making them wish they'd never crossed us. We are deviants, masters of our own destiny." He leaned back in his chair, memories flooding his mind. "Some are crazier than others, as you can see. Our motivations are different, and we're not all genius', but we do all want to be a force to be reckoned with, and have plans on how to do so."

Lucy nodded, hearing him out. "Hmm, yeah. But what about you? What made you want to be so bad?"

Gru just looked at her for a moment. "Honestly, I've never told anyone anything like that."

Lucy leaned across the table slightly resting on her crossed arms. "Well, your future wife ain't a bad place to start."

Gru found himself smiling at her. His future wife. He glanced at the engagement ring that donned her finger and knew that she was another reason he could never go back to being a villain. It would be much too dangerous, for his entire family, if he were to return to his favorite occupation. But really, the sacrifice wasn't all that difficult, and his life was much happier because of it.

"It started out as just wanting to show the world what I could do." Gru finally said. "I'd been pushed around, underestimated, neglected, and humiliated for far too long. It was then that I realized that the only way to be respected was to strike fear into people's hearts. So instead of building rockets so that I could go to the moon, I built weapons so that no one could tell me what I could or could not do. Later, instead of hiring people to do my work, I created an army of engineers that would do my bidding without question. Sometimes they give me attitude, but hey, they're not perfect."

Lucy was taking everything in, glad that he was able to share something so personal with her. She questioned his wording regarding the minions, but she had to admit that they did all know what they were doing around the lab, and they did always do whatever he told them to.

"Well, your motivation was real alright." She said, reaching for his hand across the table, suddenly wanting to be closer to him. "But believe me, you weren't born bad."

"How would you know?" He asked, turning his hand over so that their palms were touching.

"We wouldn't be on this date." She replied, gesturing to their surroundings. "We're under the full-fledged moonlight, by the sea, by candlelight. Evil masterminds aren't this kind of romantic."

Gru leaned in. "You think I'm romantic?"

Lucy leaned in further, their faces inches away. "Well, not as much as you think you are, but you're a romantic alright."

That made Gru laugh, but he still wanted to kiss her, so he did. After a few short, sweet kisses, they went back to their conversation.

"So I get to ask you something, now." Gru asked. "What made you want to be a secret agent, then?"

"Well…" Lucy said, bringing her hands together. "It's just the coolest thing ever! It was my dream since I was a little kid." She paused, seemingly looking back on something. "And uh, my parents were actually spies. In the AVL."

"Oh really?" Gru said, his eyebrows arching in curiosity. "You never told me that."

"Yeah, that's partly why AVL considered me. I mean, I worked hard, but it's a lot about who you know. You know?"

Gru nodded, but sensed uneasiness in her tone of voice. He knew already that her parents had passed away, but knowing that they'd probably died on a mission gave him a bad feeling. "What aren't you telling me?"

Lucy's eyes widened, but before she could make up an excuse, he spoke again. "I told you the truth about me. It's your turn."

She sighed and sat back in her chair before looking over at him. "Gru…" she trailed off, looking around and genuinely trying to think of how to say what was on her mind. "Before joining AVL, I had all the intentions of…now hear me out—"

"I'm listening!" Gru said, making a zip gesture over his lips.

Lucy pursed her lips together and took a deep breath. "I never wanted to start a family." She didn't wait for Gru's reaction before continuing. "I thought the commitment would be too much, judging by how many times my parents were gone. I was always worrying about them, and we never spent enough time together…" She looked away briefly. "They died when I was twelve. Margo's age. I didn't want anyone to be waiting for me if anything bad happened."

She paused when Gru took her hand again, in both of his this time.

"It's easy to say that everything changed after I met you and the girls. I love them so much, and I never want to let them down, or leave them."

Gru brought her hand to his lips and kissed it for a long moment. Looking up at her, he said, "And you never will."